Opening-lever for bail-stoppers



' I (No Model.)

Wr NOE. OPENING LEVER FOR BAIL STOPPERS.

No. 513,338. Patented Jan. 23,1894.

'- W/TNES ES, 4 INVENTOI? H n4 L V a n J m A TTOHNEYS.

NITED STATES ATENT rrrcnt WILLIAM NOE, OF MARCONNIER, NEW JERSEY.

OPENING-LEVER FOR BAl L-STOPP ERS.

bPECIFIQATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 513,338, dated January 23, 1894,

Application filed April 17, 1893. Serial No. 470,647. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WVILLIAM NOE, of Marconnier, in the county of Middlesex and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and Improved Opening-Lever for Bail-Stoppers, of which the'following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to a lever especially adapted for opening bottles provided with a bail stopper, and the object of the invention is to construct a lever which will be simple, economic and durable, which may be expeditiously and conveniently applied to the bail of the stopper, in such manner as to readily force the stopper from the bottle without necessitating the application of the fingers or the hand to the bail.

A further feature of the invention is to provide an opening lever for bail stoppers .which may be manipulated by a child as well as by an adult, and by means of which the stopper may be altogether removed from the bottle or loosened therein in such manner as to permit the escape of gas before the stopper is entirely removed, and thereby, as for example, in nncorking bottled beer,preventing the fluid from foaming over and soiling apparel or articles near at hand.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,

in which similar figures and letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a bottle provided with the bail stopper, the improved 1ever being illustrated as applied to the bail. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the opening lever; and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a slight modification thereof. V 1

1n carrying out the invention the opening lever comprises a handle A, and what may be termed a head section B, the handle and the head sections being preferably made integral. The head section is bifurcated, providing thereby two members 10 and 11, and the space between these members is preferably somewhat U-shaped. Each member is provided with a longitudinal recess or opening 12 in one of its faces, which openings may be of any desired width, and may be located at any point between the sides of the members; preferably, however, the recesses or openings are formed near the outer ends of the members.

In the preferred form of lever each member is made to terminate in a knob 13, as shown in Fig. 2, whereby a shoulder 14, is formed transversely upon each member of the head; and the openings or recesses 12 in the members, when the said members are provided with knobs, are so located that the shoulders 14 form the end walls of the said openings or recesses. I desire it to be distinctly understood that both sides of the members of the heads may be treated alike; that is to say, a shoulder 14 and an opening or recess 12 maybe located upon each face of each head member,

thus enabling the lever to be used with either side uppermost. In Fig. 3 the only difference in construction consists in that the knobs are omitted, and the openings or recesses 12 are made to slant from their inner ends downwardly in direction of the outer extremities of the members. Thus the end walls of the recesses shown in Fig. 3 will constitute a hearing surface corresponding to the shoulders 14 in the construction shown in Fig. 2.

The handle section of the lever may be made as light as desirable, and it may be provided with a somewhat oval opening 15 near its extremity, the walls of the said opening being somewhat rounded oif. The opening when used is adapted to receive the thumb of the operator in order to manipulate the lever and provide a good purchase on the handle. The handle may be rendered smooth or it may be more or less roughened, and I desire it to be understood that although metal is preferred for the construction of the lever, any material found advantageous maybe employed for the purpose.

In Fig. 1 the application of the lever is illustrated, and in the said figure the bail stopper is that usually employed upon bottles in which beer, andlike liquidsare sealed the stopper comprising a stopper proper D, which entore the mouth of the bottle, a bail E, to which the stopper is pivotally connected, and a looking bail F, supported by the bottle neck and connected with the stopper supporting bail.

When applying the lever the neck of the bottle is made to enter the space between the members of the head of the lever, and when the lever is properly applied the locking bail F of the stopper will be immediately above the lever. By inclining the lever downward, using the neck of the bottle as a fulcrum, the loops constituting the connecting medium between the stopper supporting bail and the locking bail, Will enter the recesses 12, and bear against the end shoulders of said recesses. By bearing downward upon the handle end of the lever the locking hail of the stopper is thrown upward, thereby releasing the holding bail of the stopper and causing the stopper to leave the bottle. In opening beer bottles, for example, after the lever has been-employed to loosen or throw upward the locking. bail, that bail may be held by the operator until a sufficient amount of gas has escapedlfrom the bottle to prevent the fluid from'foaming over and spilling upon any article near at hand.

Many bail'stoppers are exceedingly difficult to open, and frequently the fingers are more or less-injured in attempting to force the looking bail from its locking position. The lever,

which is exceedingly simple and economic, thoroughly overcomes all such difficulty, and as heretofore stated may be manipulated by a child with as much facility as by an adult.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. Alever having a bifurcated outer end to receive the bottle neck and longitudinally extending loop receiving recesses 12 in the upper faces of the arms 10, 11 and within the marginal edges thereof, the forward ends of saidrecesses terminating in shoulders or bearing surfaces, substantially as set forth;

2. A lever having a bifurcated outer endto receive the bottle neck and terminating at the outer end of its arms.10,'11 with transverse enlargements 13, 13 and in the upper faces of said armswith longitudinally extending recesses 12, 12, the forwardends'of which extend to the shoulders letformed by said: enlargements,substantially as set forth.

WILLIAM NOE.

Witnesses:

JOHN Non, TH'EO. A. WOOD. 

